Spuds price rise

samina

What happened to the price of potatoes???? The bag I usually buy just jumped by over 3 euros. Apparently it's because of crop problems but how long will they stay like this?

1ZRed

Couldn't care less. Potatoes are overrated anyway. Although I do like roasties ..

girl in the striped socks

Grow your own. They taste way better.
Or if you can't do that find a farmer that sells them & buy direct off him.

My name is URL

Quick.. to the famine ships!

shanered

Noooooooo not the spuds!
What is the world coming to!?!

Shryke

samina wrote: »

What happened to the price of potatoes???? The bag I usually buy just jumped by over 3 euros. Apparently it's because of crop problems but how long will they stay like this?

Keep them in a cool, dark place and they won't sprout too quickly..

mauzo

Ermahgerd not the perderders!!!!

samina

I can live without myself but by the holy that's a shocking price jump. And then the knock on effects on restaurants etc

admiralofthefleet

because [poor] farmers are always take take take but never give give give

Eden3

I noticed BIG price hike - in LIDL ...!

pconn062

It's because many potato farmers (particularly in the south of the country) are unable to dig their crop due to bad weather and flooded fields, thus creating a shortage and demand leading to higher prices. The farmers who are able to access their crop are making an absolute killing!!

Chucken

mauzo wrote: »

Ermahgerd not the perderders!!!!

I have to ask..what is that?? ^^^^

Where To

Two words.

Middle men.



Or if you prefer.

Corporate greed.




Two other words.

Bad weather.







And another two words.

American drought.





Get used to it OP, tough times ahead.

le la rat

I'm kerr Pink with rage tbh

Eden3

Where To wrote: »

Two words.

Middle men.



Or if you prefer.

Corporate greed.




Two other words.

Bad weather.







And another two words.

American drought.





Get used to it OP, tough times ahead.

Defo tough times ahead - could be worse though, we could be living in Greece - on the streets! We don't know how good we have it in Ireland so far

Scruffles

sorry,its the old folks fault-they never lost their passion for potatoes/bread/boiled bacon etc when they made the stupid decision of moving over here,their weekly shopping must be having a rebound affect on ireland,terribly sorry about that.

someone said grow them instead,in ireland specificaly unless a person has land/good soil they will find it next to impossible to do that,as there is a huge waiting list for allotments, an uncle of mine in tallaght was on waiting lists for ages;the plot he got was tiny in comparison to dads who pays a lot less over here,and uncle gets absolutely ripped off for his,think its council owned.

gardens are sometimes good for turning into a mini plot but if its anything like mums/dads garden the poor soil will make it impossible to grow them.

woud recommend looking for chicken sht as manure if are getting into it by the way, chicken sht is rated as the best manure can get-above cow crap and horse sht even,only problem is its harder to get because the turds from full grown chucks take a while to pile up without the uncomposted shavings and straw.
am going to start composting the sht from mine,purely because it might come in use to someone.

Ghandee

Won't someone think of the Tayto's....

blacklilly

I don't know of any potatoe farmer that has had a good year, farmers are not making a bomb due to this rise, I don't understand why so many people think all farmers are minted. My father is a farmer, we have a large farm but the amount of work sweat and tears that go into it are not compensated by the income. Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers. The only people making large profits off this increase are the supermarkets. I know many farming families that will really struggle this year due to the utterly crap weather we've had.

treborflynn

are you havin a laugh? is this all you have to worry about?

My name is URL

Where To wrote: »

Two words.

Middle men.

Or if you prefer.

Corporate greed.

Two other words.

Bad weather.

And another two words.

American drought.


Get used to it OP, tough times ahead.

There seems to be quite a lot of this brand of doom-saying lately. I'm going to hazard a guess and say we'll be grand. Food prices and yields have always fluctuated. Why people see growing and selling produce at stupidly unsustainable levels as a good thing, is beyond me.

admiralofthefleet

blacklilly wrote: »

I don't know of any potatoe farmer that has had a good year, farmers are not making a bomb due to this rise, I don't understand why so many people think all farmers are minted. My father is a farmer, we have a large farm but the amount of work sweat and tears that go into it are not compensated by the income. Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers. The only people making large profits off this increase are the supermarkets. I know many farming families that will really struggle this year due to the utterly crap weather we've had.

what about CAP?

Where To

My name is URL wrote: »

There seems to be quite a lot of this brand of doom-saying lately. I'm going to hazard a guess and say we'll be grand. Food prices and yields have always fluctuated. Why people see growing and selling produce at stupidly unsustainable levels as a good thing, is beyond me.

When you're paying €10 for a pint of beer next year don't come crying to me :pac:

pconn062

blacklilly wrote: »

I don't know of any potatoe farmer that has had a good year, farmers are not making a bomb due to this rise, I don't understand why so many people think all farmers are minted. My father is a farmer, we have a large farm but the amount of work sweat and tears that go into it are not compensated by the income. Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers. The only people making large profits off this increase are the supermarkets. I know many farming families that will really struggle this year due to the utterly crap weather we've had.

Well I've done some part time this work this summer for a farmer whose main crop is potatoes who says nearly everyday that he is making an absolute killing this year off potatoes. He is getting almost 3 times the amount of money per tonne that he was at this time last year and the demand is sky high. I appreciate what you're saying in relation to your own personal case but many of the farmers I know are very wealthy.

girl in the striped socks

pconn062 wrote: »

blacklilly wrote: »

I don't know of any potatoe farmer that has had a good year, farmers are not making a bomb due to this rise, I don't understand why so many people think all farmers are minted. My father is a farmer, we have a large farm but the amount of work sweat and tears that go into it are not compensated by the income. Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers. The only people making large profits off this increase are the supermarkets. I know many farming families that will really struggle this year due to the utterly crap weather we've had.

Well I've done some part time this work this summer for a farmer whose main crop is potatoes who says nearly everyday that he is making an absolute killing this year off potatoes. He is getting almost 3 times the amount of money per tonne that he was at this time last year and the demand is sky high. I appreciate what you're saying in relation to your own personal case but many of the farmers I know are very wealthy.

A lot of farmers are asset rich but cash poor.
I know loads that cleaned up selling at the marts earlier this year. Given the weather we have had between crap silage, poor corn & sick animals any profit they had is long gone.
All it takes is one bad year to set a farmer back. And this year has been bad for quite a few.

lab man

and diesel at 1e per litre!!!!!!!!!!!

blacklilly

pconn062 wrote: »

blacklilly wrote: »

I don't know of any potatoe farmer that has had a good year, farmers are not making a bomb due to this rise, I don't understand why so many people think all farmers are minted. My father is a farmer, we have a large farm but the amount of work sweat and tears that go into it are not compensated by the income. Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers. The only people making large profits off this increase are the supermarkets. I know many farming families that will really struggle this year due to the utterly crap weather we've had.

Well I've done some part time this work this summer for a farmer whose main crop is potatoes who says nearly everyday that he is making an absolute killing this year off potatoes. He is getting almost 3 times the amount of money per tonne that he was at this time last year and the demand is sky high. I appreciate what you're saying in relation to your own personal case but many of the farmers I know are very wealthy.

Well he is one of the lucky few, yes there are some wealthy farmers but one bad year can make a huge difference. Most people who comment on how wealthy farmers are don't have s clue of the work they do, 365,24/7 they are on call. My own father is 60 next year and works the farm entirely by himself, I honestly don't know how he does it but I know he loves it and takes great pride in it.
My uncles are potatoe farmers, have great land but they are really struggling at the moment. It just annoys me that so many people have a general perception that farmers are rolling in it, yes they may have assets that are worth millions and their incomes in some cases may be very high but the expenditure and physical work that goes into maintaining a decent farm is huge.

pconn062

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

A lot of farmers are asset rich but cash poor.
I know loads that cleaned up selling at the marts earlier this year. Given the weather we have had between crap silage, poor corn & sick animals any profit they had is long gone.
All it takes is one bad year to set a farmer back. And this year has been bad for quite a few.

And that is true is some cases but I know a lot of farmers in my own area and they never really have a bad year. I am talking about large industrial farms that rarely deal with animals, not small one man and his son farms. These large farms deal mostly in crops but also have investments in other areas such as willow, renting sheds for storage and even property. They all live in large houses with new cars and would not suffer hugely financially if the weather was bad for one year because they have so many sources of income. I appreciate it might be different for smaller farms though, but they a few and far between in my area.

Joey the lips

Buy pasta..... Its cheaper...

1kg of spuds about 2 euro

1kg of pasta 1 euro

girl in the striped socks

pconn062 wrote: »

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

A lot of farmers are asset rich but cash poor.
I know loads that cleaned up selling at the marts earlier this year. Given the weather we have had between crap silage, poor corn & sick animals any profit they had is long gone.
All it takes is one bad year to set a farmer back. And this year has been bad for quite a few.

And that is true is some cases but I know a lot of farmers in my own area and they never really have a bad year. I am talking about large industrial farms that rarely deal with animals, not small one man and his son farms. These large farms deal mostly in crops but also have investments in other areas such as willow, renting sheds for storage and even property. They all live in large houses with new cars and would not suffer hugely financially if the weather was bad for one year because they have so many sources of income. I appreciate it might be different for smaller farms though, but they a few and far between in my area.

I'd like to get a look at their books.
We can all live in big houses & drive new cars if we want. It's paying for it is the problem. Don't always believe what you see.
From my experience it's the farmer driving a bet down pajero that is financially better off than the big man driving a new car every year.

JONJO THE MISER

I grow my own spuds, see ye later city slickers.
Now will i have mash or roast spuds tomorrow:D

pconn062

blacklilly wrote: »

Well he is one of the lucky few, yes there are some wealthy farmers but one bad year can make a huge difference. Most people who comment on how wealthy farmers are don't have s clue of the work they do, 365,24/7 they are on call. My own father is 60 next year and works the farm entirely by himself, I honestly don't know how he does it but I know he loves it and takes great pride in it.
My uncles are potatoe farmers, have great land but they are really struggling at the moment. It just annoys me that so many people have a general perception that farmers are rolling in it, yes they may have assets that are worth millions and their incomes in some cases may be very high but the expenditure and physical work that goes into maintaining a decent farm is huge.

I appreciate the work load is huge but as you said yourself and I can relate this to all the farmers I know, the income (and personal wealth) is huge. And I'm not speaking in general perceptions, growing up in the country I have worked on many farms and still know lots of farmers personally who are often more than happy to discuss their monetary situation and none of them will tell you they are struggling. But I appreciate this could be confined to my own area which gets more favourable weather conditions and is not applicable to the entire country.

pconn062

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

I'd like to get a look at their books.
We can all live in big houses & drive new cars if we want. It's paying for it is the problem. Don't always believe what you see.
From my experience it's the farmer driving a bet down pajero that is financially better off than the big man driving a new car every year.

And I know plenty of guys like that too, one imfamous guy in my area who actually is exceedingly rich, owns lots of land and has sold many, many sites in the Celtic Tiger days and is known for favouring a length of baling twine in place of a belt!

blacklilly

pconn062 wrote: »

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

A lot of farmers are asset rich but cash poor.
I know loads that cleaned up selling at the marts earlier this year. Given the weather we have had between crap silage, poor corn & sick animals any profit they had is long gone.
All it takes is one bad year to set a farmer back. And this year has been bad for quite a few.

And that is true is some cases but I know a lot of farmers in my own area and they never really have a bad year. I am talking about large industrial farms that rarely deal with animals, not small one man and his son farms. These large farms deal mostly in crops but also have investments in other areas such as willow, renting sheds for storage and even property. They all live in large houses with new cars and would not suffer hugely financially if the weather was bad for one year because they have so many sources of income. I appreciate it might be different for smaller farms though, but they a few and far between in my area.

Our own farm is considered very large, mostly livestock and some tillage, I suppose I'm making reference to farmers with no other sources of income as such.

Also a poster made reference to CAP, I'm not sure what you want me to say about this but without it farming in Ireland and Europe for that matter would be nearly non existant. It wouldn't still be in use if it wasn't required, farming is totally dependant unpon weather and CAP ensures that farmers are to some extent compensated if prices/yields are down. Again if CAP was worth an absolute fortune would it not be logic to suggest that more people would choose farming as a career

redzerologhlen

pconn062 wrote: »

It's because many potato farmers (particularly in the south of the country) are unable to dig their crop due to bad weather and flooded fields, thus creating a shortage and demand leading to higher prices. The middle men who are able to access their crop are making an absolute killing!!

Fixed that for ya

Emmett1

This has been the worst season for potatoes in a long long time. There was very little sun light this season so very little growth. The stalks every where were small. So if you have small plants you get a very poor yield. Even the bigger stalks had nothing under them. Plants get their nutrients not only from the soil but also from the sun.

On top off this you had all the rain. So you have rotten potatoes. A lot of nutrients also get washed out of the soil stunting the growth.

I have sowed potatoes for years and this has been the worst I have ever seen it. I sow a half an acre every year on a friends land (rotating the cop accordingly).This is a nation wide problem.

If suppliers have no product in Ireland they have to import it. Driving up the Prices. You can expect this to last for most of the season. This will have a big impact on the food industry.
(expect a price hike in Fast food, restaurants, Crisp's and the rest). We'll see. Our little country could do without this. There are a lot of people out there finding it hard to make ends meat as it is.

That's the story of the spuds this year.

up for anything

blacklilly wrote: »

Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers.

If they're not happy farming, sell the farm and do something they want to do.

washman3

pconn062 wrote: »

And I know plenty of guys like that too, one imfamous guy in my area who actually is exceedingly rich, owns lots of land and has sold many, many sites in the Celtic Tiger days and is known for favouring a length of baling twine in place of a belt!

And some family member will piss it all against a wall for him some time in the future, make no mistake about it.
As the old saying goes, "after a gatherer comes a scatterer" .....;)

blacklilly

up for anything wrote: »

blacklilly wrote: »

Most farmers have inherited their job, how many people do you know of that have chosen to become farmers.

If they're not happy farming, sell the farm and do something they want to do.

I'll take a wild guess here and I apologise in advance if I'm wrong. You're not from a farming family...
Many farmers have huge pride in their farms want to see it passed down to the next generation, their fathers and forefathers may have farmed on the land they now have. I already said my dad loves his farm, would not sell it. I just think some people do not fully appreciate the work and sacrifices many farmers make in order to run an efficient farm. Take for example two years ago with the snow, all our water pipes were completely frozen, 300 cattle to water, it was horrendous, extra food needed (of which there was s huge shortage and issues with transportation) and bedding to ensure the animals were comfortable, sick animals, vet bills, checking the cattle during the night , breaking ice out of water tanks. This is just one example. When the weather is good its a joy .to be a farmer but bad summer's, harsh winters can be extremely damaging financially, emotionally and physically

Lima Golf

randylonghorn

pconn062 wrote: »

I appreciate it might be different for smaller farms though, but they a few and far between in my area.

pconn062 wrote: »

But I appreciate this could be confined to my own area which gets more favourable weather conditions and is not applicable to the entire country.

Louth?

Louth and North Dublin: A fair proportion of large farms, with the soil and weather fairly conducive to tillage, and the size and economies of scale and proximity to a large market (Dublin) to make relatively high profits. This proximity also allowed many of them to profit from selling sites for the housing boom during the Celtic Tiger.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that the area is an aberration in Irish farming, but it certainly doesn't reflect the norm.

And indeed there are other pockets of large farmers with good land in other parts of the country with different specialisms who also make good money.

And there's the middle group, reasonable land, reasonably sized farms, reasonable income, but they'll never be rich in the cash sense.

And the third group, the small farmers, or those with decent enough sized farms but poor enough soil, or a portion of the farm is hill or marsh or bog or whatever. If they're reliant entirely on the farm income they're scraping by at best, and often not even that. In most cases, they're not entirely reliant on the farm income any more, because they can't afford to be: they're part-time farmers, with a full-time or part-time job during the day and they farm part-time, i.e. in the early mornings, the evenings and the weekends. Or they farm full-time and their partner has a job. Or given the current economic mess, they *had* a job, they don't any more, and they're in trouble.

I don't have stats for each group, and tbh I cba going mining for them among Teagasc and DAF reports, but I would estimate that that first group is <10% of Irish farmers (though they certainly represent / own a fair bit more than 10% of Irish farm *land*).

And there are also a small group of outliers, many of them now ex-farmers, who were lucky enough to have land on the edge of cities / large towns during the housing boom and in a position to realise their assets / sell up completely for very large sums indeed. But it's a very small group who made the huge profits. Hopefully, they invested it wisely. Despite all the media attention they got from time to time, they no more represent the average farmer than Fitzpatrick or Quinn or Drumm represent the average private sector worker.

I would agree though that farmers are doing better overall than they were 5 / 10 years ago, relatively speaking. This is partly due to an upsurge in agriculture and agricultural prices (which is probably cyclical and transient, it usually is) but mostly ... and here's the kick in the tail ... because 5 / 10 years ago most people in the PAYE sector were doing much better than they are now (because that's who that "relatively" is usually measured against). It doesn't really represent that big a jump in the average income of the small to medium farmer; it represents a serious fall in the average income of the rest of us!

Going back to the OP and the spuds: my father sows potatoes every year for family consumption (and the odd half bag will get thrown in the boot of the car if he's going to visit friends / family who don't live in the country). He normally has great potatoes, but he's been complaining all summer that every plant he digs up has one or two half-reasonable potatoes and a scattering of marbles. Very bad crop. Same for carrots and parsnips etc. Miserable summer, miserable crop.

up for anything wrote: »

If they're not happy farming, sell the farm and do something they want to do.

And what would you advise a 50-60 year old farmer who has farmed all his life to turn his hand to, given our current economic climate? Which of the many jobs which are in such abundant supply at the moment would you suggest he apply for?

Chuck Stone

I love spuds.

ruthloss

Chuck Stone wrote: »

I love spuds.

With tonnes of 'rale' butter!!:D

Quorum

1ZRed wrote: »

Couldn't care less. Potatoes are overrated anyway. Although I do like roasties ..

Potatoes are class. And versatile. Though not as versatile as eggs, which are also class.

samina

Quorum wrote: »

1ZRed wrote: »

Couldn't care less. Potatoes are overrated anyway. Although I do like roasties ..

Potatoes are class. And versatile. Though not as versatile as eggs, which are also class.

Cholesterol my friend

Quorum

samina wrote: »

Cholesterol my friend

The cholesterol in eggs in nowt to worry about. I would happily eat eggs every day. And real butter. Nom.

charlemont

Eden3 wrote: »

I noticed BIG price hike - in LIDL ...!

I noticed the same with the Roosters in Aldi, Potatoes are the business, Every meal I cook has to have them.

snubbleste

Famine II ?

fishy fishy

its a golden wonder there are any spuds left with the amount we eat of them

tin79

Quorum wrote: »

The cholesterol in eggs in nowt to worry about.

So one of those Egg Council creeps got to you too, huh? Lenny?

blacklilly

randylonghorn wrote: »

Louth?

Louth and North Dublin: A fair proportion of large farms, with the soil and weather fairly conducive to tillage, and the size and economies of scale and proximity to a large market (Dublin) to make relatively high profits.

The farms I have been talking about are locted in these areas, some of the best land around, no matter how good your land is, if you have an extremly wet summer, potatoes will not grow, they will rot, yet the farmers still have to harvest them, salvage what they can and pepare the soil for the next planting season. So the work load is still huge for basically no return.

Quorum

tin79 wrote: »

So one of those Egg Council creeps got to you too, huh? Lenny?

No, toddle on over to the nutrition and diet forum and be educated.